PRANKSTER [1] ↝ C. DIGGORY

thirty-four

"Place your bets!" Clary exclaimed alongside Fred and George as the three triplets stood in the stands waiting for the First Task to get underway. "Bets taken here!"

Clary sighed as the rest of the students seemed to be set in their seats for the upcoming events, and the flow of traffic up to where the sixth-years all stood was coming to a standstill. They'd taken in a good number of bets that morning for the event, most of them betting on either Cedric or Krum to take home the victory of the First Task, though Harry wasn't too far behind, even though he was years younger than the other competitors.

She checked her watch, noticing the task was set to begin at any moment now. Those in their seats could hardly take their eyes off the massive blue-gray dragon in the middle of the arena, or the groups of handlers standing by, to which Clary's eyes found Charlie among them. She recalled him explaining to her that this was a Swedish Short-Snout, and while it didn't look nearly as threatening as the Hungarian Horntail she'd seen earlier that week in the clearing with Charlie, she'd still hate to be the witch or wizard to go up against it, or any of the dragons for that matter.

 She slid down into her seat next to Vasantha and Newt, one twin wearing red and the other in yellow, though they were prepared to cheer on both of Hogwarts's champions that afternoon.

"We never got all of your bets." Fred said as he and George took their seats on the other side of Clary. "Who d'you reckon's winning this first one?"

"I think Krum's got this first one, personally." George said. "I reckon he could probably scare the dragon off and take the egg for himself easily." he said with a laugh.

"No way," Newt said. "No offense to Krum, but he doesn't exactly seem like the sharpest wand in the box. Cedric's a genius. He'll figure this out."

"I don't know about genius," Clary muttered with a small smirk. "But he's clever. I think he'll do well."

"I think Fleur's got a chance," Vasantha said firmly, her eyes wandering to where the Beauxbatons girls were grouped down in the front, waiting for the chance to cheer on their champion. "She's a strong independent woman. She's got this."

"What about Harry?" Clary asked. "He's the underdog here, since he's so much younger than the others, but he always manages to think of something."

"Care to make a bet, Cece?" Fred asked, angling their bet box towards her with a grin.

"No thank you," she said matter-of-factly, "I don't make bets, just take them."

"Oh, look!" Newt exclaimed, pointing to where Filch was walking down to where an old cannon sat near the end of the makeshift stadium. "It's about to start."

The cannon went off with a loud booming sound, ricocheting through the stands as shouts of surprise came from both the sea of students and the much smaller group of judges and faculty in the higher up stands. Clary watched intently as the first champion left the tent, a black and yellow uniform alerting her that it was Cedric who would be facing the first dragon that afternoon, and she sat up a little straighter in response, anxiously anticipating his performance.

"Diggory! Diggory! Diggory!" a chant began to rise amongst the students, Clary and her friends joining in among them.

"Let's go Cedric!" Clary exclaimed as he approached the edge of the arena, and she could see the nervous expression threatening to break onto his face, though she could tell the seventeen-year-old boy was trying his best to hide it.

"Come on, Ced!" Newt cheered on his best friend. "You can do it!"

She watched as Cedric tentatively studied the dragon, and the horde of eggs it was guarding, among which was one made of solid gold. As Cedric stepped closer to the dragon, it turned to face him, releasing a screech that caused most of the spectators to cower back in fear. This dragon was protective over its eggs, and there was no way in hell it was about to let a wizard come near them without putting up a fight.